THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) may resume the issuance of letters of authority (LoA) inside the primary quarter, because the agency seeks to spice up revenue collection.
Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said tax audits needs to be resumed because the BIR seeks to satisfy its revised P3.431-trillion revenue goal this 12 months.
“We’d like to resume that. We’d like that for revenue collection,” he told reporters on Wednesday evening.
An informed source said the BIR will likely resume LoA issuance throughout the first quarter.
The LoA is a document from the BIR that permits an examiner to examine taxpayer accounts. It’s required before any tax audit can proceed.
Last November, the BIR banned all field audits, including the issuance of LoAs, mission orders and examinations, following misuse allegations by business groups and lawmakers.
“I need to let you know that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) cannot also survive with these letters of authority suspended endlessly,” Mr. Go said during his speech on the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines event on Jan. 21.
The BIR collected only P3.11 trillion in 2025, missing its full-year goal of P3.22 trillion.
Data provided to journalists showed that the BIR has lowered its revenue collection goal this 12 months to P3.431 trillion, 4.14% lower than the previous goal of P3.579.9 trillion. Nevertheless, it’s 10.5% higher than the actual collection in 2025.
“After we resume this (LoA) activity, we are going to reduce the variety of departments throughout the BIR authorized to issue letters of authority, and reduce the variety of letters of authority a taxpayer can receive in any given 12 months,” Mr. Go said.
Mr. Go said the BIR can even digitalize and institutionalize a data-driven audit selection process for LoA.
“By leveraging automated risk-based modeling, we’re making a system that minimizes discretion and strengthens accountability. The keyword here is quality assessments, and we is not going to allow arbitrary or abusive audits,” he said.
The BIR earlier announced preparations ahead of the suspension’s lifting to deal with concerns of companies. Business groups have long complained that inconsistent audit practices create uncertainty and expose firms to potential abuse.
BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza has said the agency earlier established a Technical Working Group Review Committee on Assessment Integrity and Audit Reform following the suspension of tax audits.
The committee is now in the ultimate stages of completing the policy issuances that can guide audit procedures once the freeze is lifted, he said.
Mr. Mendoza had said that when audits resume, taxpayers may have access to an LoA verifier through the BIR’s Chatbot REVIE, and a brand new policy will limit audits to 1 LoA per taxpayer.
He added that the agency can even implement a “revalida,” or audit‑the‑auditors system, to tighten accountability amongst revenue officers.
These reforms are a part of the BIR’s five-point priority reform agenda, called BIR DARES, with audit reforms as its top priority.
DARES stands for Digital and Data Transformation, Audit Reform and Accountability, Revenue Collection and Base Protection, Worker Empowerment and Welfare Promotion, and Service Excellence and Stakeholder Engagement.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs’ (BoC) 2026 collection goal has also been lowered to P1.003 trillion, 1.07% below the unique goal of P1.0138 trillion but 7.34% higher than the P934.4-billion actual collection last 12 months.
Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno earlier said the agency missed its P958.71-billion goal in 2025 on account of slower import activity amid the rice import ban and the corruption scandal.
As well as, the federal government raised its nontax revenue collection goal by 40.47% to P349.9 billion from its previous goal of P249.1 billion.
For 2026, the gathering goal for other offices is pegged at P38.7 billion. — ARAI